Legal and Administrative Measures Against Crime Propaganda on Social Media: A Review of the Turkish Practice

Abstract

Digitalization and the rapid proliferation of social media platforms have enabled the reproduction of crime and criminal identity through propaganda in new media environments. This process, which leads to outcomes such as modeling and erosion of social norms, especially among young people, poses serious threats to public security and social order. This review systematically addresses crime propaganda on social media and Turkey's regulatory policies within the framework of internet law. The study was created by scanning peer-reviewed articles published after 2015 in Scopus, Web of Science, ULAKBİM, and Google Scholar databases with English and Turkish keywords by the PRISMA protocol. The included studies are articles that focus only on crime and criminal propaganda on social media platforms and contain original data and analysis. The results show that the aestheticization of crime and the promotion of anti-hero figures through social media create a strong role model effect on young people. Although legal regulations are being developed in Turkey, problems with freedom of expression and technological up-to-dateness continue. In the future, more stakeholder and dynamic cooperation is required against new threats such as artificial intelligence and deepfakes.